-LRB- CNN -RRB- `` We can not kill our way out of this war , '' State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said on Tuesday . `` We need in the medium to longer term to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups , whether it 's lack of opportunity for jobs ... '' Since then , Harf has been attacked by conservatives , particularly for her jobs remarks . But she 's right in her assessment .

And , I would suggest , she should have gone further : There 's reason to think that bombing is exactly what ISIS wants us to do . Why else would they be goading us into it ?

It 's called `` terrorism '' for a reason . The goal is to cause terror , to scare people into acting -- or overreacting . The most recent ISIS propaganda video was produced in English for a reason . It seems they want the West to react and take the bait . And we are obliging .

Months ago , a war-weary United States was suddenly whipped back into a pro-military-action frenzy . Why ? Writing in Mother Jones , Kevin Drum , explained : `` All it took was a carefully stagecrafted beheading video and the usual gang of conservative jingoists to exploit it . ''

Longtime defense analyst Kenneth Brower made a similar point : `` A YouTube video of a beheading forces the U.S. president to go to ` war ' in order to avoid being called weak by his domestic political opposition . That 's not leadership ! Worse , the so-called hawks push for deeper involvement irrespective of military reality . They live in a fantasy world of U.S. military exceptionalism . ''

ISIS then beheaded a British journalist , so the British stepped up its military support in the campaign against ISIS . Then ISIS goaded Jordan with a video of the hideous immolation of a Jordanian pilot . Jordan responded with bombs . Now ISIS has just goaded Egypt with a mass execution ... and Egypt has , predictably , responded . Anyone who does n't see a pattern here is n't looking .

Yes , the violent terrorism of ISIS is medieval and inhumane . That does n't mean it ca n't also be rational .

And this is where the assessment of Harf and the Obama administration -- and Republicans calling for even further military action -- falls short of the mark . Not only can we not kill our way out of this war , but killing may exacerbate the situation .

Why would ISIS goad the world to attack it ? To be legitimized as a forceful threat , while at the same time provoking actions that lead to more civilian casualties when nations strike back . This provokes more rage at the West and its regional allies , drawing more martyrs and sympathizers to the terrorist cause .

And we are playing into ISIS ' hands : In Syria , ISIS had to put up giant screens to show its beheading videos . But in the West , mainstream media is doing it for them , covering ISIS propaganda as 24/7 fear - mongering under the banner of news .

Effective counterterrorism strategy begins with not doing what the terrorists want us to do . But right now , we are the dog being wagged by the tail of ISIS .

After all , while the capacity to commit terrorism likely involves some psychosis , terrorists do n't just spontaneously spring from the ground like demonic daisies . In 2006 , the National Intelligence Estimate compiled by America 's top counterterrorism agencies found that the war in Iraq had , according to a Washington Post article , `` become a primary recruitment vehicle for violent Islamic extremists , motivating a new generation of potential terrorists around the world whose numbers may be increasing faster than the United States and its allies can reduce the threat . ''

ISIS and its ilk want to concoct an existential war between their brand of fundamentalist Islam and the rest of the globe . The leadership of ISIS may do abhorrent things because of a crazy adherence to an apocalyptic interpretation of Islam , as Graeme Wood has just written in The Atlantic . But they do n't just slaughter people , they produce hi-definition , theatrically staged , English-language videos of the slaughter , as well as a propaganda magazine in English .

America 's homeland , thankfully , has not been the direct target of ISIS violence , but we have been the target of this propaganda . It 's working . Recruits are flocking to ISIS .

This is not to say there 's no military solution to ISIS , though many experts such as Brower certainly doubt that such tactics will work . It may ultimately be smarter to push a political solution , such as the division of Iraq and the region into new sectarian-based states , as has been proposed in the past . Whatever the solution , what is clear is that the values and vision of America and our allies in the region should be proactively driving the agenda rather than a reactionary furor whipped up at the whim of ISIS .

We have to stop broadcasting their propaganda . We have to stop responding with bombs every time they provoke us with videotaped slayings . We have to stop being weak and fearful in the face of ISIS ' threats . Otherwise , no matter how much territory we bomb , ISIS will keep winning .

In fact , if you think the only way to defeat them is with bombing , they 've already won .

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Sally Kohn : Overreacting to ISIS ' atrocities is what the terrorists want to aid them in recruiting

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She says the West will not win against ISIS this way ; it will only make the situation worse